The upward movement of Turkish rebar offers to the export markets, which had continued for the previous six weeks, has come to a halt in the current week, with Turkish rebar export offers remaining unchanged at $510-530/mt FOB, mainly due to the declines seen in global billet quotations. Meanwhile, demand for Turkish rebar in the export markets is currently at low levels.
Following the Labor Day holiday in China, Chinese billet export offers have declined by a total of $40/mt over the last four days to $350-360/mt FOB. As a result, ex-CIS billet prices have also started to move downwards, decreasing by $12.5/mt on average since yesterday, May 5, to $420-430/mt FOB. Although increases in import scrap quotations in Turkey continue to been seen, the declines in the global billet markets have caused buyers to believe that the rises in global raw material prices and finished steel quotations have come to a halt, and so overseas buyers are putting downward pressure on Turkish rebar export offers.
Market sources report that finished steel inventories at Chinese ports are on the high side, while Chinese billet export offers are expected to fall further in the coming days. If the decreases seen in global billet quotations continue in the days ahead, it is expected that the downtrend of the billet market will be reflected in prices of other iron and steel products, and so Turkish steel mills' rebar offers to the export markets will soften accordingly.